Whats your WORST commission experiances ?

[AndyW]

Before i start off on my own trials and tribulations, i was wondering, whats the WORST experiences you guys have come across with your own commissions ? ? From painting to modelling, to sculpting to designing

[Earther]

Not my experience, but a funny (if a bit rude) example:

http://frothersunite.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=49587

 

[Cubs]

Not my experience, but a funny (if a bit rude) example:

http://frothersunite.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=49587

 

That one is hilariously tragic. A triumph of second-hand (if you excuse the expression) experience over first hand knowledge.

I once had a customer who got a bit batey that the job had over-run by several weeks. Fair enough, although I had made it clear that I had a long queue of work of indeterminate length and his job had gone at the end, still I gave an estimate of completion time and was unable to stick to it.

I finished the job and sent him the photos of the models, all fine. Now I have a policy that all my customers are aware of - namely that payment must come no more than 30 days after the job is completed to their satisfaction. This time expired and I heard nothing from the customer.

I gave him a gentle nudge and he said he was having to wait until payday when he'd have the money. No problem I said, I'd expect payment then.

This time also expired and I asked if he was having further cash flow problems. Well ... he went off on one, ranting about how it was okay for me to overrun my deadline, but not for him to pay etc.. etc.. he then declared that he had the money in his account, but he was going to deliberately delay paying me further to 'punish' me for hassling him.

I played wise monkey and just decided to wait things out. Eventually the money came through, I sent him the models (tracked delivery) and informed him I would no longer be accepting commission work from him.

He still contacts me every year or so to ask if I can do work for him ... I politely decline.

[FramFramson]

Not my experience, but a funny (if a bit rude) example:

http://frothersunite.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=49587

 

Well that was good for a laugh! 

[Mason]

Well that was good for a laugh! 

It certainly was.
 

[Eric the Shed]

Great....just shared with mrs shed...what are you guys on?

[joroas]

She came to mind:

[tin shed gamer]

Mine a simple case of out right theft.Many years ago I made a range of trenches.These were ment to be made by a local company whos partners were my friend(or so I thought )these were taken down to Nottingham to show to a well known company.
On the way home I was dropped off a the local hospital as I was on a late shift .
I couldn't take a large wooden box full master on to the ward so my "friends "promised to drop the masters off at my house with my other bits and bobs on their way home.
When I got home I found every thing but the masters.
So I contacted them and each said the other had them.eventually it dawned on me I'd been turned over.contacted the police.No evidence, no case.was the short version.
Four months later I get a call from one of them who'd split from the company, that the other had now cast them and was doing a full page add in one of the mag's.
I had a look and sure enough there they were.He'd added a futher layer of sand over the textured putty.but they were the same masters he hadn't even squared up the ends(which was one of the snagging jobs that needed doing when they went missing)
He had even put the roof on the bunker the wrong way round.(which never did understand).
So I contact the police who went round and said they'd seen the masters which were signed by the gentleman in question.
I politely reminded them that I sign my work at different stages of construction.So they go back to check and guess what had been thrown away !But he had managed to find the handmade wooden carrying case with my name carved in it,He 'must have borrowed it and miss placed it.
So no action could be taken.

[Cubs]

Mine a simple case of out right theft.

That would eat away at me ...

I guess you have to chalk it up to experience and move on, or suffer stomach ulcers, but karma works too damn slow for me.

You have my sympathies.

[tin shed gamer]

Cheers,it did leave a bitter taste.But it did give me the steel to take on Foundry when they asked for some figures to photo,and started playing silly begger's.
After them I stopped doing work for anyone in the lead belt,and stuck to doing museum display's.It was Rob Baker,and the late Jim Bowen who asked me to do some work for them.Which dragged me back into the odd world of gaming.

[Cubs]

I had problems with Foundry, too, namely not getting paid in a timely fashion and having to chase them up, then getting attitude for their delays! Everyone cocks up and I don't really hold a grudge with them, but I did stop doing work for them as well. That's the great thing about being self employed, you choose who to work for, as and when you want to (there are plenty of crappy things too, though).

Funny enough, I narrowly missed out on a great museum gig a few years back - painting up lifesize resin reproductions of early Christian statues for a museum in Ireland (I forget which one). In the end the company who does Doctor Who's special effects got it ... I wasn't really able to compete!

From my own experiences in the Nottingham based companies, most seem fine, but a little scatty. You have to nail them down to a rock solid set of procedures and do all the admin work for them. They really do seem to need office managers! Northstar and Great Escape Games are notable exceptions, who mostly pay on the dot when you send photos and an invoice, which is why they're such a pleasure to do work for.

[tin shed gamer]

At least you got paid!I didn't they said the natural tones I prefered for the figures didn't photograph.Till I pointed out they'd used them in an add.Then tried to tell me the figure were distroyed in a mail plane crash so I couldn't get them back.I then asked if they'd gone down in the plane crash how had they photographed them?Then politely pointed out that the mail plane crash had been on the news and was on a training flight and not even carring mail.Mentioned legal proceedings and the figures turned up 48hrs later sold them to a private collector in. America and made more than I would of from Foundry .He got figures that had been in a mag.The kids got a snowboarding and climbing holiday in North Wales.
Were your dealings any better?
Ironically I showed Jim Bowen how to do them and Foundry bought his for twice as much as they'd offered me.So I considor it a win!

[The Dozing Dragon]

Back in the early 80s I did a bunch of painting for GW retail shop displays...they were always a pain to get money off.

[Cubs]

Were your dealings any better?

Ha, yes, it looks like I got lucky. It was really just X (I won't mention his name) 'forgetting' to send me my money week on week and then saying he had to wait until the next week before he could do it. Bearing in mind they didn't pay anyway until they had the figures in their hands, as I'm sure you have also found.

Well, he started to tell me that "In the real world, people don't get paid until 30 days after they've worked anyway". Apparently I was operating in a dream world, not the real one. Patronising tit. It was the early days of my self employment and I didn't have the confidence to argue, so I sucked it up, completed the job I was working on and declined to accept any more.

I'm now earning twice what they paid and all my customers pay (including postage) when they see the photos of the completed models, no quibbles. It's all good, it's all a learning process and in the long run they helped me to develop as a painter and find the balance between customer service and a solid process.

[janner]

I'd add a thumbs up for the Great Escape Games team for paying promptly